Lots of decisions have been set in motion recently which makes for a lot of changes. Unfortunately blogging or baking hasn't been of interest lately but just wanted to write something to let you (whoever reads this..) know that I'm ok. I'll be back to my old self in no time. And I'll update you (again whoever you are..) on all the news.

Currently listening to The Sea and Cake and it put me in the mood to do some blogging. Recently, I've discovered a glorious internet joy called Pandora. I'm sure EVERYONE has been using it for the past 8 three years already but I was always skeptical (Music Genome Project as in DNA? HA!) How could the internet know and understand my musical depth?? How could it know what I liked and didn't?? All I can say now is that I'm extremely impressed. Not only does it access a fantastic amount of lesser known songs, it shows you artists that you've never even heard of who fit into your tastes. I know this is probably old news for some but I just thought I'd give an ode to this genius.

I guess there's been some interesting things going on since my last blog 5 days ago. I am now jobless..which is liberating and scary at the same time since my livelihood depends on a steady income. There are a couple jobs lined up so I'm not that worried...but I always have a habit of worrying so I didn't want to disappoint anyone. I won't talk in detail because I don't want to jinx it but I can honestly say that it will be the best thing to happen to me in awhile if I get this job. This is me seriously asking someone...anyone out there to pray for me :) Right now though, I'm excessively enjoying my time off.


This weekend was pretty busy with Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, and a couple playdates planned out. On Thursday, Jennet and Josh invited us to Wiseguys to see one of their friends do a show. It was actually really enjoyable and I definitely think it would be nice to go every once in awhile just to laugh a little. We spent the day on Saturday hanging out with Jennet, Josh, Emma, and Jesse's mom. Then we had a hot pot get together at my Dad's for Chinese New Year (hot pot YUM!) For Valentine's Day Jesse made me breakfast (French Toast and Fruit) then we just spent the day shopping for one another and watching movies. He'll be buying me a sweet pair of cream colored Toms that I can't help but love. I couldn't get them in the store because the sales people were rude but I will be getting them. After our busy day, I made us dinner. We had:

Butternut Squash Soup
Salmon with Potatoes and Roasted Garlic Broccoli
Molten Chocolate Cakes with Vanilla Ice Cream

The cakes were divine. SO easy to make and SO delicious. I might be biased on the level of skill because I had Pistachio on hand to make sure everything was o.k. but honestly, totally easy and totally rewarding. It makes it look like you spent hours on this chic dessert that people order at 5 star restaurants in Manhattan. Jesse was definitely impressed and again, Domestic Goddess points! The key part is to pop them out of the custard cups right out of the oven without breaking them. Obviously with burning hot glass against you, thoroughly buttering the cups in the beginning is SO important. Anyways, the recipe said you could use whipped cream to cut the chocolate since it's so rich but I decided to use ice cream to make it a hot and cold dessert which I definitely think is the way to go.

I'm going to go back and put up some pictures of the brownies I made last week on that earlier post as I promised, and also a few pics from dinner and such. We also decided that Valentine's will be our chosen holiday when we go all out and send people cards since we're too good for Christmas and any other holiday that people typically send cards on. We handmade each one and it was so much fun since I've never handmade a pretty card before! I'll post pictures of thee pictures we had in them too. This weekend is when we're planning on doing the Post-Sundance dinner since it's been so busy for the last couple of weeks but more on that menu later.

Valentine's Dinner



Molten Cake


Jesse all done


The card is pretty self explanatory. These are the pics we didn't use.

Ok so I have to admit that I've done something bad. Usually I am a healthy baker, very conscious of what I'm incorporating and trying for the healthiest and freshest ingredients. Tonight, I unknowingly (or by some miracle) got myself deep into a brownie recipe that literally pulled out all of the stops. First, I scanned the recipe for the basics like checking to see if I had most of the ingredients, how long it would take, and if it was very labor intensive. It seemed pretty straightforward and I was excited because I haven't really tested any brownie recipes. I ran to the store and stood in the baking aisle for a good 15 minutes contemplating the idea of getting high quality bittersweet chocolate which is excessively expensive and therefore, something I've never done. Using the freshest and highest quality ingredients, especially for dishes that are all about one ingredient (brownies=chocolate) is the best way to get the best results. So I decided to splurge and totally went for it.


It wasn't until I got home and actually started melting the chocolate that I realized (after reading it 7 times) that I was supposed melt about a pound of butter along with it. Not only that, the recipe called for 6-count them SIX-eggs. Well needless to say this recipe has cleaned out my pantry staples but I am so happy I knocked down my biggest, unhealthiest, recipe of the year so far.

Now as I sit in bed with the smell of warm chocolate still wafting in the air, I actually feel like a Domestic Goddess (Thanks Nigella!) Jesse is in utter bliss with my brownie adventure and I have made him promise to let me freeze them so we can eat them slowly as not to kill over in heart attacks. Different variations to come in the the near future, but now that I've conquered a good basic brownie recipe those shouldn't be too hard. Lesson learned today: USE the best quality chocolate for the best quality brownie! It is totally true and I promise you won't regret it.

Look at that pound of butter...

..and how it all melts away!

Go Saints! Not because I like them...but since both of my teams didn't come close to making the Superbowl and the fact that I HATE the Colts..the Saints become the natural choice. Plus it's nice to have an "underdog" come and make Peyton eat it. We're going to Jeff and Andrea's house today for the game and I'm bringing a grasshopper sheet cake. It's basically a chocolate cake with mint frosting. The added detail that makes it Superbowl worthy are Andes mints in the shape of little footballs on each individual piece. You just have to cut the corners off of the mints and voila! Easy peasy. I was going to make the cake from scratch along with a new method of making frosting that I read about and wanted to try, but I am in Sandy at Jesse's dad's house today without my mixer (which henceforth shall be called Pistachio). Since the frosting involves warming egg whites then whipping them into oblivion (which is an amazing concept that makes the frosting fluffy yet firm with no raw egg-age) a hand held whisk would've taken me to the next century, and alas, no hand held mixer in Sandy.

So to the horror of myself, my boyfriend, and probably you, dear reader, I will be buying Pillsbury Devil's Food Cake Mix, which will stand in for my chocolate cake, and Pillsbury Vanilla Frosting which I will flavor with Peppermint extract as a ginormous substitute to the whipped-egg-creme de menthe-concept. I felt that I needed to confess this travesty to someone or something and here it is..in cyberspace. On a brighter note this will fulfill a strict personal belief that I have developed. Based on a past experience that will irk me till the day I die: Always ALWAYS bring something to a party/event/social gathering that you were personally invited to and that you did not help plan. It doesn't matter if it's a present, a bottle of wine, or food enough to share, just something. Even if the host says to bring nothing, you bring something anyways. It is just basic thoughtfulness, and to be honest (based on this past experience) I think it's ridiculously rude not to. Of course there may be exceptions, but very rare exceptions. In fact I think the guidelines mentioned earlier pretty much cover any exceptions.
Bring something if:
1. You did not plan or help plan the party.
2. You were invited, not doing the inviting.

I must sound pretty anal sometimes..but everyone has their pet peeves and personal preferences for everything. Well I'm off to the store for my cake. Pics up soon. Go Saints!

There's no one here these days since Sundance started. Jesse is definitely working for the money he's about to make. On the first day, we were up at 7 to pick up the car he would be driving and he wasn't home till 3am that night. That's pretty much been the same every day since Sundance started. At first we thought there would be breaks while waiting for people when we'd be able to see each other but so far it's been impossible. Like at Andrew's birthday dinner last Saturday, he said he would be able to stay for three minutes and it really was just three minutes, including walking in and walking out time. Needless to say I'm a bit frustrated with the whole situation but I keep thinking money money money, I must think $$$ if I'm going to get through this week.

He's been meeting some interesting people though. Just yesterday, he was driving around the director of this environmental documentary. They got to talking about the film and what Jesse was interested in doing which is working for the UN doing population statistics etc. This director, his name is Michael Nash, whips out his cell phone and calls this lady name Coco from theUN who is at the moment having lunch with Al Gore and Lester Brown. The four of them chat for a second and in the middle of Al Gore saying something, Nash interrupts and tells Coco about Jesse and his UN hopes. She promises that she will give him an internship and once he graduates, a job, all they have to do is stay in contact. Can you believe that? Al Gore got interrupted!! Obviously we are ecstatic about this news and if all goes well, we will be moving to New York (UN headquarters) or some European city in the next couple years. OMG! Stay tuned.

I've been keeping myself busy I would say. Planning Andrew's dinner, Andrew's birthday, hanging out with friends I haven't seen in awhile, homework, babysitting, work, watching Coraline and Julie and Julia for the fifth time in a row etc (Both amazing movies by the way.) The house is a mess and for some reason I cannot bring myself to clean it. Perhaps today's the day.

Let me just take this moment to say that Financial Aid at the University is beyond ridiculous. I've been dealing with getting my financial aid through for the past 6 months and it is out to get me till the very end. Has anyone tried calling the Financial Aid Dept? Everytime I attempt to call a message comes on almost immediately saying "Thank you for calling the University of Utah office of financial aid and scholarships. Currently we are experiencing a high volume of calls and we ask that you call back at a later time." Then it goes on to say that they are open Mon, Wed, and Fri with LIMITED HOURS on Tues and Thurs. Even if you do somehow manage to get through, you are put on hold for 20 min at least. Why don't they think of getting more people to man the phones if they are busy like this all the time. Even if you try other depts, they always refer you back to the financial aid dept, why doesn't the University use it's vast array of resources and do something about it!

Because of this delay, and because in 2010, the University and government systems are somehow NOT conveniently interconnected, my financial aid that finally came through wasn't applied to my tuition and I had to pay for it by myself in the end anyways. Doesn't this render the department useless? Don't people rely on this dept so they can go to school? Even though they know that I have financial aid coming through to cover my tuition and then some, they aren't able to defer my paying tuition and of course when I did pay it (with my dad's help dear old dad) it was the easiest thing in the world. Just a credit card number, an expiration, not even a CVV number, and ONE submit button, $1600 for two classes is taken in an instant. Sixteen hundred dollars for TWO classes...the University seems like the only place that is increasing in value with these hard economic times. One wonders, where does this money go? I have a few suggestions for where it should.

I'm glad I got that all out. Phew. Anyways, I've decided that I need to focus on something, such as a hobby of some sort. I haven't had much time lately to bake or cook and I want to get back on that. I was thinking of doing the Julie/Julia project sort of but with a different cookbook. Speaking of that, anyone who has seen the movie will agree with me, the food styling in that movie is amazing, I was famished by the end. The one thing that got me salivating excessively was the Tomato Bruschetta that Julie cooks in a scene and since then I've been trying to find the recipe. I finally did and it is the legit thing, originally published in Atlantic Magazine by Susan Spungen who also happened to be the Culinary Consultant and Food Stylist on Julie and Julia. I'm plannning on making a celebratory dinner in honor of Sundance ending and the good paycheck that will have made the ten days all worth it. I'll be making the bruschetta as a part of it. More on the Julie/Julia project I will be attempting, and pics to be up soon.

a new year

I cannot tell you how busy this past holiday season has been. Obviously there was no time for a blog because it's been a month and a half since my last post. I figured I should probably start up again before it is too late into 2010.

Since Thanksgiving, which went really well, Christmas took over my life. We decided this year, to have my parents come to my house instead of trekking to Park City since we wanted to do a smaller holiday than years past (no money!) and since it would be more convenient. Everything was chaotic with finishing school during the first half of the month that present shopping and holiday planning were pushed until a week and a half before. Since this was my first experience with having my family over at my house, I wanted everything to be perfect so I was stressing about all of it. The menu was:

Eggs Benedict with homemade Hollandaise
Cajun Potatoes
Mimosas
Strawberry Cake

My parents brought the Asian dishes like tofu with mushrooms and cabbage, chile wings, and leek buns. We had a really good mixture of everything. Along with cooking for my family, I also baked gingerbread for Jesse's Christmas that would be in the evening. On Christmas Eve, I cleaned the whole house, we wrapped presents, and cleaned some more. Vivian had her puppy Mochi with her that whole week so the cats were very unhappy and Andrew brought Kudo, my Aunt's dog, who he was babysitting. It was a crazy Christmas with all the animals chasing each other around my small house and all the cooking going on, but it was the best Christmas I've had in a while.

All the food

My family + Jesse (Viv is taking the pic)

the Strawberry Cake


our tree

the pups had to be separated

After Christmas at my house, Jesse and I hurried over to his sister's house for their Christmas. The gingerbread cookies turned out fantastic and everyone loved them. Best gingerbread recipe ever and definitely a keeper. We didn't make it home until 11 pm Christmas night and since I was up at 8, I was exhausted. It was a really great day and it helps me remember why I love Christmas despite it being incredibly busy.

For New Years, Hollie and I planned a party at their house. It was even better than last year's party with more people, more food, and more dancing. It was the perfect way to end a fantastic year and a memorable start of a new decade. I have now been a vegetarian and 1/2 vegan for a year now. I plan on keeping it up this year as well. Jesse will be working at Sundance and it's something we're both looking forward to because of the amazing pay and the experience. I plan on getting my CNA this month so I can get some hospital experience and quit my current job which is generally unfulfilling. This way I'm also working toward my bigger goal and not wasting anymore time! I've also decided on my major which will be Environmental Studies so I'm anxious to just get it done and graduate. Overall we're both optimistic about this upcoming year and can't wait for opportunities to surprise us.

PS. Christmas morning brought me a delightful package. Jesse splurged on me and got this to help me pursue my developing interest in baking. I'll be testing recipes now more than ever which means more blogs. This baby is going to change my life. (& isn't she pretty?)

friendsgiving

This week has been pretty busy with school and friends-giving planning! Our group of friends has decided to throw a mini Thanksgiving this Sunday, supposedly for our few (let's hope it doesn't turn into a party). Along with this is a bunch of school work and work that is wearing me down. Anyways I'm in charge of vegetable sides and stuffing but I'm also going to be making extras since the vegetables are easy to prepare.

I'm making:

Green Beans with Shallots and Breadcrumbs
Ginger and Jalepeno Glazed Carrots
Stuffing
Baked Mac & Cheese (yum!)
Pumpkin Cupcakes

The shopping and the cooking starts today since I work tomorrow morning, and will probably stress myself out trying to make everything in a few hours. The macaroni will freeze well and just be put in the oven tomorrow so it's hot. I think I might also do the cupcakes today so I can just decorate them Sunday. No thanks to piled pots and pans for me to come home to. I'll be sure to post pictures when all is accomplished..hopefully. *fingers crossed

Jesse's birthday went surprisingly well. The day of shopping was ridiculous and consisted of 4 separate stops to different stores. In the end the Pesto that I winged turned out really delicious and everyone loved it. Being surrounded by family and friends that were eager to help wasn't bad at all. Dinner ended up being Pesto Cavatappi (Jesse's favorite noodle hah) with fake chicken, roasted carrots and asparagus, garlic bread, and the cinnamon streusel cake with soy ice cream for dessert. It was all super simple, low key, and really fun.

All the food

Jesse's mom (Pat), niece(Emma), sister (Jennet), and brother-in-law (Joshua)

Cookies that Jennet made

The cinnamon streusel cake